Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Surabaya – The East Java Police internal affairs division is currently questioning 21 police officers for allegedly attacking journalists who were covering a Falun Gong march in Surabaya on May 7.
The four journalists who were allegedly victims of police brutality were identified as Lukman Rozaq from Trans7, Septa Rudianto from Radio El Shinta Surabaya, TVRI cameraman Joko Hermanto and New Tang Dynasty Television contributor Eko Oscar Nugroho.
Lukman suffered the most from the attack. His right eye was bruised and swollen after being hit and kicked by police.
"Suddenly, police in plain clothes attacked the crowd with helmets, including the journalists. I was hit from behind. I retaliated but the number of policemen in uniform was higher," Lukman said.
Septa said he was beaten on the head despite yelling that he was a journalist covering the event.
TVRI cameraman Joko was also kicked by a number of police officers but he was lucky to have been able to film the perpetrators, including the police officer who gave the order to seize journalists' cameras.
The incident prompted strong reactions from journalists in Surabaya – They immediately protested in front of the East Java Police headquarters and met with East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Untung Suharsono Radjab.
Representatives from the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI), the Radio Indonesia Journalists Alliance (Alwari), the Television Journalists Association (IJTI) and the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) urged Untung to thoroughly investigate the case.
"We will certainly impose sanctions. No one is above the law, even an officer," Untung said at the meeting with 100 journalists at East Java Police headquarters.
After the meeting, East Java Police spokesperson Comr. Rachmat Mulyana said the restrictions on the Falun Gong movement in Indonesia were apparently upon the request of the Chinese government through its envoy in Indonesia.
"The movement is banned in China. We are concerned that if we allow it to exist, it would have a negative impact on the Chinese-Indonesian community in East Java. If it's just a parade, it's okay. We respect the relationship between Indonesia and China," Rachmat said.
East Java Falun Gong chair Abdhy Yozari said the Chinese government was pressing the Indonesian government to take repressive measures against all the activities of the Falun Gong community in East Java.
Abdhy Yozari told The Jakarta Post on Monday that the march included over 300 Falun Gong members from across the country and representatives from Singapore and Taiwan.
When reached by the Post, the Chinese vice consulate in Surabaya, Sun Guo Yuan, denied the Chinese government had asked the police in Indonesia to suppress Falun Gong in Indonesia.
"I absolutely don't know anything about the incident. We were closed on Saturday and Sunday so we don't know about the matter at all. And, it is not true what they accused us of," Sun said.
Andhy Yozari said the Falun Gong community in Indonesia had planned to file a case of violence against the police over the incident.